Cite
MLA
“The Satavahana ship coins.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/samudra/satavahana-ship-coins-samudra/. Accessed .
APA
Hindu History. (2026). The Satavahana ship coins. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/samudra/satavahana-ship-coins-samudra/
What defines it
- 01
Two-masted ship on lead and potin coins
- 02
Mostly attributed to Yajna Sri Satakarni
- 03
Found on the Andhra and Coromandel coast
01A ship struck in metal
The coins are small and worn, but the design is clear: a hull with a curved keel, two masts with rigging, and steering oars at the stern. Some carry the king’s name in Brahmi. They have been found along the eastern coast, in Andhra and around the Coromandel, which is exactly where the Satavahanas’ ships would have put out for Lanka and the lands across the Bay of Bengal.
02Two coasts, one kingdom
At their height the Satavahanas held both shores of the Deccan. On the west, the Periplus names their ports of Kalliena (Kalyan) and Barygaza (Bharuch) nearby, and the Naneghat pass carried goods up from the Konkan to Junnar and Paithan. Gautamiputra Satakarni won back the western ports from the Kshaharatas. Yajna Sri, one of the last strong kings of the line, minted the ship on the east.
03What a coin tells
Kings put on coins what they wanted known. A ship on the money of the Deccan says that sea trade and sea power mattered to the throne, and that the people handling these coins in the ports knew the sight well.
